SWEET 16 STORYLINES

We understand you may only now be jumping on the women’s basketball bandwagon. (Better late then never, eh?) If so, here’s a primer on the Sweet 16’s top storylines:

UConn’s universe: The NCAA Tournament is UConn’s world; the rest of college basketball is just living in it. If the Huskies’ 78 percent-shooting effort against Temple in the second round is any indication, UConn’s 74-game winning streak will reach 78 in the national title game on April 6.

Summitt v. Auriemma: The no-love-lost matchup of Tennessee’s Pat Summitt and UConn’s Geno Auriemma is the showdown college basketball watchers across the country want to see. They could April 4 in the Final Four.

Who needs offense? Coming off a record 14 blocks vs. Georgetown, Baylor’s Brittney Griner proved she can change the outcome of a game simply with her defense. Griner, a 6-foot-8 freshman, earlier this season made headlines when she punched a Texas Tech player in the nose and was suspended for two games.

Huskers on a high: Nebraska was one loss in the Big 12 title game away from a perfect regular season. The senior-heavy Huskers, though, have bounced back in the postseason.

An Appel a day: Stanford has been carrying the torch for the West all season long, and earned its first No. 1 seed since 1998 behind senior center Jayne Appel. Stanford also was the last team to take a victory over UConn back in the 2008 Final Four.

— Nicole Vargas

When San Diego State women’s basketball player Candace Chambers steps onto the court, she does so wearing size 15 Nikes.

Not far behind the sophomore is junior Paris Johnson and her size 14s.

This week, though, the Aztecs’ familiar footwear could be called dancing shoes.

Of the 16 teams still playing in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, one has earned the label of this year’s Cinderella team.

No. 11 seed San Diego State.

The Aztecs are not only the lowest seed still alive, but they are the lowest to advance this deep into the postseason since No. 13 Marist in 2007.

SDSU is the first 11 seed to advance to the Sweet 16 since UC Santa Barbara in 2004.

And only 12 double-digit seeds have advanced this far in the past 16 years.

“You won’t get an argument from anyone that No. 1 (UConn) has certainly distanced themselves, and 2, 3, 4 maybe,” Aztecs head coach Beth Burns said after her team’s second-round upset of No. 3 West Virginia on Tuesday. “But then when you start getting to the high single digits and into the teens and the 20s, there’s a lot of good players. There’s a lot of good coaches. And I think it’s not surprising. It’s not surprising for us.”

It’s the first trip to the Sweet 16 for the Aztecs since the tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1994. The Aztecs went to the NCAA regional semifinals in 1984 and 1985, when the tournament included only 32 teams.